In 1889, following Vincent van Gogh’s ear injury, he did not return to the Yellow House. Instead the suffering artist spent his nights at the hospital knowing that he did not feel capable of caring for himself. It was shortly after this that Van Gogh committed himself to the asylum of Saint-Remy-de-Provence. After recovering from his injury, but still residing at the hospital, Van Gogh was allowed to continue his work outdoors. One of the paintings created during this time was Pollard Willows or Road with Pollard Willows. The painting, whether intentionally or not, seems to carry a great deal of symbolism. The painting depicts an empty road bordered on …..

In February of 1888, Van Gogh had moved from Paris to Arles, a small town in the South of France. Upon moving to Arles, Van Gogh experimented with all that he had learned while in Paris. His paintings had become influenced by Japanese prints, Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism. In the last half of June 1888, Vincent van Gogh created a set of 10 paintings and five drawings known as the Harvest Series. This was one of Van Gogh’s most prolific periods. He spent days in the wheat fields working under the burning sun to show peasant work, something always dear to his heart, and the stages of the harvest. He created …..

Van Gogh spent a year living in the asylum at Saint Remy de Provence. Though it was a turbulent time in his life it was a very prolific one artistically. Van Gogh created numerous paintings, frequently turning his attention to the land outside the asylum. During this time he created a series of at least 15 paintings of olive trees. Van Gogh found beauty in the olive trees, he wrote to Theo at the end of April, 1889 and said, “Oh, my dear Theo, if you saw the olives just now…The leaves, old silver and silver turning to green against the blue. And the orange-coloured ploughed earth. It is something …..